1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to home aquariums and more particularly to systems for storing and dispensing live fish food.
2. Background Information
Home aquariums are extremely popular and found in many homes throughout the country and world. Typically, a home aquarium consists of a glass or plastic tank having a capacity of between several gallons and several hundred gallons. Fresh or salt water is provided and is cleaned regularly by a filtration system. A water heater, artificial or natural plants and a gravel or sand substrate may also be provided. Within the tank, fish of various sizes may be kept, depending, in part, upon the size and volume of the tank. Small fish are usually fed small-sized granules of dried food or small frozen or live animals, such as blood worms or brine shrimp. However, larger fish (a few inches or more is in length) often thrive on larger-scale food, such as small goldfish, guppies or tuffies. To satisfy a large fish's desire for live “feeder fish,” the aquarium owner is generally faced with two alternatives. He or she can either maintain a separate fish tank (often having its own heat, filtration substrate, etc.) in which a large stock of feeder fish are kept, or can make frequent trips to the store to purchase feeder fish as needed. In the former case, a great deal of additional space, energy and time is consumed in maintaining a feeder fish tank, simply to support the main tank. In the latter case, time and resources are spent to repetitively fetch a small supply of feeder fish.
While it is possible to purchase more feeder fish than will be used in a single feeding, they must be maintained in a relatively clean environment until needed, otherwise the feeder stock will likely die before the next feeding. Hence, a separate tank with adequate filtration is unavoidable unless the numbers of feeder fish retained for future use is quite low and the period of storage is quite short. Hence, a way to maintain a larger supply of feeder fish for a reasonable length of time without the need of a separate tank is highly desirable. A way to deliver the proper number of feeder fish to the tank is also desirable.